Firebird is an open source database application which has been in use since 1981 under various names. It is very stable and is of production quality. Many features of this database are derived from ANSI SQL and hence SQL users find it easy and convenient to work with Firebird.

Firebird comes in two packages, namely, classic and super server. Classic has a single user architecture and can be integrated into other applications. Super user is the server version which can be used to support multiple clients. A large team of dedicated professionals is involved in maintaining Firebird.

Being an open source application, Firebird runs on Linux, various Unix versions and MS Windows. The database has a lot of advanced features such as excellent performance and high concurrency. Further the language support for triggers and stored procedures are also very good. .

Firebird database is completely free which means that the users can customize specific portions of the software to make it more tuned to their usage provided they are willing to offer the changed code to other users. This ensures the continuous update and enrichment of the software in the hands of the user community.

The server version of the software has various tools and utilities to configure various parameters and for user management. This increases the efficiency of the database usage.